# The canvas

> How the frames are laid out, the bar above each frame, zooming and moving the view, selecting, cropping, masks, groups and all the mouse and keyboard shortcuts of the Designer.

Last updated: 23 October 2026. Source: https://narciso.io/en/docs/tela/

The **tela** (canvas) is the work area of the [Designer](https://narciso.io/en/docs/designer/): a purple dotted background with the **frames** (the pages) on which you compose the graphic. This entry explains how to move around and how to select and edit elements; the tools for changing their appearance are in the [Designer side panels](https://narciso.io/en/docs/pannelli-del-designer/).

## How the frames are laid out

The frames are placed **in a row from left to right**, with 40 points of space. The **active** frame has a bolder purple outline: you activate it with a click on the frame or by selecting one of its elements. When it opens, the view adjusts itself to show them all.

### The bar above each frame

It appears **only in formats with several frames** (not in Post singolo, Foto Profilo, Storia and the other single-frame formats). It is a white pill with:

| Element | What it does |
|---|---|
| **SLIDE 1**, **SLIDE 2**… (in print **FRONTE** / **RETRO**) | Name of the frame |
| Arrows **‹ ›** (**Sposta a Sinistra** (Move left) / **Sposta a Destra** (Move right)) | Change the order of the frames. They are not there in print |
| **Duplica Quadro** (Duplicate frame) | Copies the frame with all its elements, straight after the current one |
| **Aggiungi Quadro** (Add frame) | Adds an empty frame of the same size after the current one |
| **Elimina Quadro** (Delete frame) | Removes the frame. If it is the only one it becomes **Svuota Quadro** (Empty frame): it removes the elements and puts the white background back |

In print only **Fronte** and **Retro** (Front and Back) remain, with no Duplica, Aggiungi, Elimina or arrows.

**Limits:** at most **10 frames** for Post Verticale and Post Quadrato (beyond that, the extra frame is removed and **Questo formato consente al massimo 10 tele.** (This format allows at most 10 canvases.) appears); print formats have **exactly 2 frames** (**Questo formato ha esattamente 2 tele (Fronte/Retro): non puoi aggiungerne altre.** (This format has exactly 2 canvases (Front/Back): you cannot add more.)).

**Elements straddling two frames.** In a panoramic carousel an element that goes beyond the edge of a frame can «continue» onto the next one. With **Salva Bozza** and **Salva Post** the program also draws the overhanging part on the adjacent frame, so the photo is continuous from one slide to the next; with **Download locale** this does not happen ([Exporting](https://narciso.io/en/docs/esportare/)).

## Zooming and moving the view

The round bar at the bottom right has:

| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| **−** (**Zoom Out**) and **+** (**Zoom In**) | Zoom out / in by about 15% with each click |
| The percentage (for example **50%**, **Adatta allo schermo** (Fit to screen)) | One click brings the view back to showing the whole canvas |
| Arrow (**Seleziona** (Select)) | Normal tool: selects and moves elements |
| Little hand (**Sposta visuale (Manina)** (Move view (Little hand))) | Dragging moves the view, even when starting from an element |

Zoom goes from **15% to 350%**. With the mouse:

| Gesture | Effect |
|---|---|
| **Scroll wheel** | Moves the view up and down |
| **Ctrl** (or **Cmd**) or **Maiusc** (Shift) + scroll wheel | Moves the view right and left |
| **Alt** + scroll wheel | Zoom, centred on the frame you are working on |
| Pinch on the trackpad | Zoom |
| Middle button pressed and dragged, or **Spazio** (Space) held down, or **Alt** + dragging with the left button | Temporary little hand to move the view |

## Selecting and moving

| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| Click on an element | Selects it: the blue box with the handles appears and, above it, a pill of buttons |
| Click on the empty background | Deselects |
| Drag on the empty background | Light blue selection box: takes the elements touched **in the active frame** |
| **Maiusc** + click | Adds or removes elements from the selection |
| Drag the element | Moves it; **yellow alignment lines** appear (relative to the edges and the other elements). Dragging it onto another frame moves it there |
| Double click on a **text** | Opens it for editing; **Esc** or a click outside closes it |
| Double click on an **image** | Enters cropping |
| Handles at the **four corners** | Resize keeping the proportions; with **Maiusc** freely |
| Handles on the **sides** | Resize freely; with **Maiusc** they keep the proportions |
| Little circle above the box (**Ruota** (Rotate)) | Rotates; with **Maiusc** in steps of 15° |
| **Locked** elements (padlock in Livelli (Layers)) | Cannot be moved, resized or rotated |
| Drag a file from the computer onto the canvas | Adds it as an image, where you release it |

**Groups.** **Ctrl+G** on several elements groups them, on a group it separates it. Clicking an element of a group selects the whole group.

### Cropping an image

Double click on the image (or **Tool ▸ Trasformazioni ▸ Ritaglia** (Tool ▸ Transformations ▸ Crop)). At the top the bar **Trascina la foto o i bordi per ritagliare** (Drag the photo or the edges to crop) appears with **Annulla (Esc)** (Cancel) and **Fatto (Invio)** (Done). A shape (rectangle, circle…) can be cropped: it is first turned into a vector figure, a one-way operation.

### The pill of buttons above the element

It appears when the element is still; when you hover the mouse an explanation is shown.

| Button | When it is there | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| **Crea Maschera (Ctrl+M)** (Create mask) | Selection = **one image + one shape or icon** | Crops the photo inside the shape: the shape disappears and the photo remains with that outline (in Livelli, **Rimuovi maschera** (Remove mask) appears) |
| **Raggruppa** (Group) / **Separa** (Separate) | Several elements / a group | Joins or dissolves |
| **Tool** | Always | Opens the tools panel |
| **Imposta come sfondo** (Set as background) | An image without a mask | Fixes the photo as the background of the frame, beneath all the elements; the element disappears |
| **Duplica** (Duplicate) | Always | Creates a copy shifted by 20 points |
| **Elimina** (Delete) | Always | Removes the element |

If the selection is not the right one for the mask, **Seleziona un'immagine e una forma (o icona) da usare come maschera.** (Select an image and a shape (or icon) to use as a mask.) appears.

## Undo and Redo

**Undo** / **Redo** arrows in the top bar (from 1024 points wide) and shortcuts. The history keeps the **last 50 steps**.

## Shortcuts

They apply when you are not typing in a text field (search, project name, text being edited).

| Keys | Effect |
|---|---|
| **Arrows** / **Maiusc + arrows** | Move the element by 1 / 10 points |
| **Canc** (Delete) or **Backspace** | Deletes the selection |
| **Ctrl+C**, **Ctrl+X**, **Ctrl+V** | Copy, cut, paste (the copy appears shifted by 20 points) |
| **Ctrl+D** | Duplicate |
| **Ctrl+A** | Selects everything in the active frame |
| **Ctrl+Z**, **Ctrl+Y** (or **Ctrl+Maiusc+Z**) | Undo, redo |
| **Ctrl+G** | Group / separate |
| **Ctrl+M** | Mask |
| **T** | Adds a «Nuovo Testo» (New Text) text in the centre |
| **R** | Adds a black 100 × 100 rectangle |
| **Spazio** (held down) | Temporary little hand |
| **Alt** + right button | Switches Gomma on for the selected element ([Retouching photos](https://narciso.io/en/docs/ritoccare-le-foto/)) |
| **[** and **]** (with Gomma, Gomma magica or Inpainting on) | Make the brush smaller and larger |
| **Invio** / **Esc** | In cropping: confirm / cancel; **Esc** also closes text editing |

There is no shortcut for saving (**Ctrl+S** does not save) or for zooming from the keyboard, and there is no right-click menu.

## If the canvas has a problem

If an element with unexpected data makes the canvas «break», **La tela ha riscontrato un problema** (The canvas has run into a problem) appears with the buttons **Annulla l'ultima modifica** (Undo the last change) and **Riprova** (Try again): the rest of the editor keeps working. See also [Designer](https://narciso.io/en/docs/designer/).

## Related entries

- [Designer](https://narciso.io/en/docs/designer/)
- [Designer side panels](https://narciso.io/en/docs/pannelli-del-designer/)
- [Designer projects](https://narciso.io/en/docs/progetti-del-designer/)
- [Exporting](https://narciso.io/en/docs/esportare/)